Too much to drink on New Year's Eve? They'll tow you home

Friday

Dec 28, 2012 at 6:00 AMDec 28, 2012 at 2:23 PM

By Brian Lee TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

Moved by tragic images of fatal drunk-driving accidents, an Oxford towing company says it wants to help reduce such accidents on New Year's Eve by offering to tow party-goers' cars for a reduced cost in Oxford and Charlton.

Arnie's 24 Hour Towing on Route 20 is offering the service for four hours, from 10 p.m. Dec. 31 until 2 a.m. Jan. 1. The company will have four drivers who have volunteered to work the holiday for free.

The first-time initiative for the company is called Tipsy Tow, which select American Automobile Association clubs throughout the country offer, but not in Massachusetts.

Some chapters of AAA have offered the Tipsy Tow program for about 10 years, a spokesman said. Every club across the country is a different entity, the spokesman said.

Undeterred, Arnie's has opted to offer the program on its own, operations manager James Rolfe said.

“Being in the towing industry,” said Mr. Rolfe, “you kind of see a lot of fatality accidents with little kids, just everywhere, in general, and a lot of it's because of drinking and driving. We decided this year we can do our part and try to help the community out by offering Tipsy Tows.”

Arnie's normally charges $85 for in-town tow jobs in Charlton and Oxford, the two towns it covers.

It will do those jobs on New Year's Eve for $30, the manager said.

Tows from Oxford to Charlton, and vice versa, will be $50.

The U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced this month that 9,878 people were killed in drunken-driving crashes last year, including 395 during the second half of December, considered the holiday season.

“I've been doing this 17 years,” Mr. Rolfe said. “I've found they (party-goers) want to drive the car. They want to get their car home and they have no other option other than having it towed. The tow rates nowadays, they are substantial. So what they do is they chance it and they drink and drive.”

An equivalent cab ride home would be about $30, he said.

The tow company has flatbed trucks that can sit six people.

“People don't just go out by themselves, they go out with their friends,” he said. “We can't drop them off each individually at their houses. But we can get them home with their car (to a destination) so they can go out, celebrate, have a good time for New Year's and they don't have to worry about drinking too much and taking the chance to drive home and unfortunately hurting somebody.”

Mr. Rolfe said he believes his company is the only one in the area offering the service.

The degree to which people turn to alternative forms of transportation on First Night appears to vary. City cabdrivers appear to see more business than in surrounding towns.

Toni Donovan, the owner of Red Cab in Worcester, called New Year's Eve the best night of the year for cabdrivers, which helps with drivers' “starvation throughout the year.”

In addition to the partygoers, drivers get business from what she called atypical customers, such as parents who take their children out for First Night festivities. They call for cabs if it's cold, Ms. Donovan said.

However, Kevin Fasulo, who owns Winchendon Taxi, said he doesn't see an uptick in business on New Year's Eve.

“I have a few regular clients that call me and tell me they're going to be using me and that's about it,” he said. “People go out to drive. People don't want to spend any money.”

A man who identified himself as the owner of Shrewsbury Taxi said his company doesn't even offer cab rides on New Year's Eve.

He said too often in the past the company picked up people who were drunk on New Year's Eve and when they arrived at the destination would tell the driver they had no money. “So we don't do any of that,” he said.